Someone like me

It was but a split second that it took Von to render the distance between him and his new enemies to zero. He spun mid flash and kicked the man holding the child straight in the jaw, he flung helplessly like a ragdoll. Von however didn't consider the sudden stop, he would have by hitting him, making him stumble and fall. The whimpering soldier now took advantage of this and advanced on Von, swinging his blade downward, missing its target by mere centimeters.

Rolling on his back and backing away quickly, Von assessed his current situation, his first priority protecting the red haired girl, as his eyes shifted towards her so did the brute's. Von desperate flashed again "I'm sorry" he thought as he took the girl in his arms, the speed he had gone with hurt her as she impacted against him. Coming to a halt he dropped the pained girl on the ground turning around. Both men were now standing murderous intent in their eyes. They were both looking at Von, but also at the girl behind him, "If I leave her now, she's good as dead" Von said within, he started moving forward, if he struck first they wouldn't stand a chance at doing anything else, with the last of his energy he did a last flash attack.

Moving at speeds quicker than the soldiers could react to, Von sword in hand went straight for the tall bald soldier first. Instead of going straight forward he kept going and ended up facing their backs, trying to turn around quickly the brute had no chance as Von cut off both the back of his knees sending him straight to the floor. The whimpering one quickly attacked grazing Von's right arm

"Motherfucker!!! I'll kill you!!" He screamed as he continued a frenzy of attacks, Von kept backing forward each time. Then he saw it, the perfect parry, following his instincts he parried the soldier sending his sword flying off his hands.

His face turned from rage to pure horror as he realized he had just lost and was about to die, the tears came back as he tried to back away and Von kept walking forward, the soldier could see, he had no chance, none from the beginning.

"I'm sorry it had to end this way, you should've kept your word" Von said as he aimed his sword straight to the head. The sword flung cutting air in its path aiming perfectly to it's target,

"Stop!!" The single shout made Von stop automatically, looking behind him he saw the entire village standing outside. "Please stop" An elderly woman repeated,

"What? Why?" Von asked in confusion as he stepped on the soldier's chest to make sure he wouldn't run away, a loud thud sounded as he did.

"We appreciate your help, but you are killing us if you kill them" A bearded old man said,

"If I kill them, you'll be killed as well, not by them but by others" Von said in a sad realization as he lowered his sword,

"Yes, you understand" The woman said as she clasped her wrinkled and worn hands, "So please just let them go, you've done enough" though harsh, the words were spoken with kindness and gratitude, no one had ever stepped up for them like Von.

As he removed his foot from his chest Von looked down on the soldier,

"How much do they owe?" Von asked with poison laced words,

"40 imperial coins" The soldier muttered in shaky words, "We won't say anything I promise" the fear could be heard and felt as he trembled, "We are Anshass but we aren't unreasonable, you see?"

Von dipped his hand in his purse that he had hanging from the back of his belt and grabbed two golden coins and tossed them at the floor, "There you go, 40 imperial coins, grab your friend and leave, you tell them you ran into bandits but won" He looked straight at the soldier's eyes as he kneeled down and grabbed him by the collar "If anything happens to these people, I'll find you and your entire family, am I clear?"

"Perfectly" the soldier gulped and stood up, taking the money and running towards his friend, grabbing him and moving away as quickly as possible a few minutes later they were gone.

"Allie!!" The mother of the girl screamed as he hugged her tighter than it should be possible, both of them were soon joined by the hurt yet extremely happy father and husband, he turned around and quickly muttered a "thank you" towards Von, making him smile genuinely.

However it quickly fell as he addressed the old woman once more "You know they won't change, I'm afraid I might have worsened things" Von said with a hint of guilt and sadness in his voice,

"You probably have, but no one has ever stood up for us like you, you have our gratitude" The elderly woman said as she placed a hand on Von's slightly bloodied face, his hair bun had broken and his now slightly longer hair now grazed her hands. He looked up to see most people were smiling with gratitude while others, understandably, were frowning or scared of what might happen next.

"I'm once again sorry I'll leave immediately" Von said with determination and an almost imperceptible smile,

"They won't return in a day, let us repay you please" A younger man who seemed like a blacksmith by all the coal stains in his clothes,

"Are you sure?" Von asked, while sleeping would be great all this town needed is for him to be around if the Anshass returned asking for him.

"We are sure," the old man said as he looked around, seeing signs of approval from various people.

As dawn fell most people had already dispersed and the family Von had protected had returned to their home happy and in tears, except for the girl that had asked to stick around outside just a tad longer. Von had been welcomed at one of the homes and offered food and a bed, which he kindly took. A door knock sent Von and all the family within the house to their feet, Von looking back at them gave them a "I got this" nod and walked towards the door, hand on his back holding his dagger if it was needed.

He opened the door to find Allie, the red haired gal he had saved there, smiling. Taking his hand off the knife he opened the door completely for the family to see no danger was there. Now out of combat Von could see how pretty she was, tall with deep ocean blue eyes and a slender figure clearly given to her by the shortage of food, still she seemed well fed and in good shape, her hair now tiddier was a beautiful reddish almost fiery red. Her smile however was so kind and gentle it made Von smile as well,

"See you are better, I'm glad" Von said with a smile

"I will never be able to repay you for what you did out there, but i'm here for something else, could we talk outside?" Allie said with a slight quiver to her voice

"Of course, I'll be right back" Von said looking back at the family who were now eating more calmly,

Not sooner had he closed the door that the girl jumped and hugged him almost crushing him in her embrace, "Thank you, thank you, thank you" she repeated several times before letting go "Sorry, I really needed to do that" she said as she chuckled in embarrassment

���It's fine, you are welcome"

"I'm a soulbinder" Allie blurted out

Von quickly looked around and grabbed her by the shoulders "Don't say it so loudly!!" he hissed "You don't know who may be listening"

"Sorry" she quickly grimaced "It's just I never met another one like me"

"Like you? You mean another soulbinder?" Von quickly asked in a low tone

"Yea, exactly!" she quickly answered giving away a little bit of a rural accent typical from kriel.

"Follow me," Von said as he walked away, Allie followed suit.

Walking to a nearby forest Von suddenly stopped and turned around "Here we can talk freely" he said

"I want you to train me" Allie said as she looked at him straight in the eyes

Von's face contorted as he tried to bring sense to what the girl had just said, he put a hand on her shoulder and looked at her,

Then he laughed.